Ike Tokita, CEO of Tokita Seed

Japan: “Fortunately, there has been no major damage to our facilities"

On Thursday a earthquake with a magnitude of 7.1 hit Southern Japan and was followed by powerful aftershocks, the triggered a vocano eruptions and a tsunami alert was issued. Although ti will be some time before the full extent of the damage is know we spoke to Ike Tokita, CEO of Tokita Seed to find out how his company had been affected.

“Fortunately, there has been no major damage to our facilities. There is no gas or water in our office at the moment, but the electricity is working. So as soon as the water service is restored, we’ll probably be able to go back to the office. All of our employees are safe. However for now, it is not safe for them to stay in their homes, so we have organized for our staff to stay in hotel rooms in the neighboring prefecture. There are also continuous aftershocks, which are predicted to go on for sometime, and we wanted to take precautions to make sure everyone is safe.” says Mr Tokita.

Tokita Seed has a sales office and a small research station in Uki, Kumamoto with eight employees and their families.

For Tokita Seed, Kumamoto is the most important tomato production area but Tokita states that no significant damage has been recorded there, as far as he knows. “It’s currently not the main tomato season,” he added.

"The key issue has been the unexpectedness of the event. Since Japan sits right on the most seismically active area on the planet, which means the earthquake could hit anywhere in the country. But it was thought the next major quake would happen elsewhere, and not Kumamoto. But in the end, it is the Mother Nature, and nobody can predict what will happen,” he concludes.